Asymmetry was once a harmless geometric term. But in the 21st century it has morphedinto a frightening buzzword. It defines the fact that small cells of criminals, terrorists ormalcontents can now wreak devastation out of all proportion to their size, bringingInternet-using organizations to their knees, holding them to ransom, invading nationalsecurity systems, and paralyzing or disrupting national service infrastructures.

The shields these malefactors shelter behind are territorial the way that laws, law enforcement and the uses of the Internet itself play out in different ways in differentnations. Terrorists, spies, phishing attackers, data thieves and vandals, far from beingimpeded by the frontiers which were once bulwarks of security, now use them to evadedetection and capture.

And corporations, too, need to be aware, when their enterprises go global, that theInternet may be a device which crosses frontiers, but it is not an instrument whichchanges human nature or local culture. The credits which off shoring and outsourcingbring to the balance sheet can be diminished by debit entries in the fields of ethics andsafety.

So how can Internet security answer these challenges and transform itself technically,politically, legally and efficiently into a truly global force for good?

This is the key issue which will be debated at the 20th Annual FIRST Conference inVancouver, Canada an appropriate location, given its position as a gateway between theAmericas and Asia-Pacific.